Hello everyone

I have just upgraded from a crappy Bush DVD recorder to the Sony RDR-GX350. What a little jem it is!! It has a miriad of features on it that the Bush didn't have and the recording quality is fantastic.

One question. I can't find anthing about it at all on the internet!! There is no sign of it on the Sony web site, nothing on here and Google just brings up the usual 'buy DVD recorders here' results.

Where can I find any info on this fine machine? I have the manual, of course, but I like to read reviews and things when I get something new!! Have any of you good people on here got one of these? If you have what do you think of it?

Any help would be very much appriciated. Thank you

Well the date on the service manual is June 2007, but it seems a little 'obscure'?.

Does it? Oh dear! In what way 'obscure'?

Only in that there's very little information about it.

Oh right. Ok

I have been checking the web sites and everywhere has the model. Currys, Comet, Dixons and Argos. So why no info on it anywhere?

Hi All,
I've just ordered this recorder and after searching sony's uk site and the web all I could find about it was from Sony's Latvian site. http://www.sony.lv/view/ShowProduct....y=DVD+Recorder

Hope this helps.

You won't regret it. It's a great machine

Thank you for the link.

I now own one of these little beauties. Bought mine from Web-Electricals. Great service, ordered Tuesday morning delivered Wednesday morning in it's full multi region glory.
Just getting to know the machine, so as anyone had any problems with their's?

How are all you GX350 owners doing?

I've just discovered this machine and it looks ideal for what I want - a low cost but high spec DVD recorder to use as a main player and as an archiving device from my hard drive recorder and VHS player.

It's had surprisingly little coverage in the UK, probably because it doesn't have Freeview. Oddly, the next model up in terms of model number (GX360) is a lower spec (no HDMI or Divx) but it does have Freeview.

For those who already have a decent twin Freeview tuner hard drive recorder the 350 will do fine.

I've seen it today for 82.00 including delivery!

Any feedback on the machine would be welcome.

I've seen it at £79 delivered (Digital Direct and Sound & Vision Online) and I'm very interested. From the little info I've found

- Bear in mind this is from a Sony salesman's post so "may show bias".

Like Fireball XL5 I just want the occasional archiver (ex Humax PVR) with good playback features.

Found a pic of the remote on ebay (RMT-D245P AFAIK).

Hi CPemma,

It's a bit frustrating when there's so little feedback on this model but I think it's worth going for. In my immediate family we have two Sony DVDRs (HXD560 and 870) and both are very impressive.

Like you I have no need of a Freeview tuner as I have a PVR already. My current DVD player is very old so the Sony GX350 will replace that and act as a useful recorder and archiver. I also wanted a device which would play back Divx and the Sony can do that - another bonus. Previously I'd looked at the Panasonic range but they don't do Divx, a silly omission given that the European versions of the same models do have it!

Also, given that the GX350's price is at the same level as supermarket brands such as Liteon and it has to be worth a punt.

I think the Sony salesman is right in what he says and it's good that he points out the lack of Freeview tuner. The assessment of picture quality is of course subjective but going on the impressive evidence of the Sony 560 and 870 I think we'll be okay.

If you get one too we can compare notes!

PS John Lewis are doing it for 129.00 includlng two years' warranty. I wouldn't pay that much but it's an option for added security.

I decided to, after finding a manual at Sony Europe which confirmed a few things on the 'need' list. Arrives (touch wood) Tuesday, an extra £1.76 off the £78.95 for quidco and 79p added to Tesco Mastercard points making it about £76.40.

We have the Tosh SD-210 player which was a budget model and is now long in the tooth, but it got rave reviews for picture quality and has never given trouble; let's hope the Sony is as good.

Great! I'll be very interested in your findings. Thanks for the tip about Quidco too (and Tesco - I have a clubcard!).

The Digital Direct price has dropped to £77 delivered today.

(Sound & Vision price has dropped too, apparently they're the same firm)

Those do seem to be the best prices, although as they don't specify multi region I assume they are region 2 only.

The best multi region price seems to be 88.00 including delivery:

http://www.digital-point.co.uk/model...&source=kelkoo

I'll probably buy a region 2 machine and make it multi region myself using an all in one remote.

Hello - I'm just thinking of getting the GX350, mainly for archiving from a Humax 9200TB (and playback of course); do either cpemma or Fireball XL5 have any comments on this form of use?

In addition, I am pretty confused as to the exact spec (no replies to enquiries from retailer or Sony - nothing new there then). Can you tell me if there are two models out there, and what does a multi-region one have on it to denote its m/r capability? Do any forms of the GX350 come with an i-Link connection? Do yours have one cpemma/fireball? The downloadable Op Guide (from Sony Europe, see above) certainly doesn't show one, but various retailers claim it does; I would like i-Link if possible, but good record/playback performance is much more important.

I will be very grateful for any info.

Hi Arthur!

I've postponed my purchase by a few days as I'm away from home at the moment. I still plan to get one on my return. CPemma hasn't posted since she bought hers last Tuesday so I'm hoping that no news is good news.

You're right about the lack of i-Link, what a pity. I didn't really think of it because I do my camcorder editing on a computer. I'd assumed that a machine with this spec would have i-Link as standard.

Retailers' spec lists are notoriously inaccurate so it's always best to check with the manual if possible, which is what you did.

The device will be fine for archiving as it has RGB in through one of the SCARTS, so that will give you the best available quality from an external box.

There is only one model available - RDR-GX350. You might see a suffix of 'S' meaning silver, or 'B' meaning black, although I think all of the UK ones are black.

Ive seen the model erroneously referred to as the RDR-GXD350. I looked for this but such a model does not actually exist, which is also a pity because a 'D' in the model number normally implies that it has a digital (Freeview) tuner.

As for multi region, this is always an unofficial thing so there won't be anything in the model number to reflect it. The main manufacturers do not sell multi region devices in the UK so if one is sold as multi region it will have been made this way by the retailer. It's a very straightforward procedure and the warranty will still be valid. If multi region is not explicitly mentioned in the sales blurb you can assume the device is region 2.

We await CPemma's findings with interest!

My machine is marked Region 2 on the model/serial number plate and also on the cardboard box among all the other logos (it's the usual globe symbol) so you could check what Comet have in store; I haven't checked its accuracy, I only have Region 2 DVDs. A search will find instructions or a pre-programmed £10 remote to hack the machine if it's important to you.

No i-Link socket - the machine has the usual SmartLink aka Q-Link, EasyLink, etc, feature that links to a TV through a fully-wired SCART so maybe your source is confused.

I've not played with the recording side and not done more than check it works on the playback side yet; I've a HDMI lead in the post so I can set everything up properly, but first impressions on ordinary Scart S-Video picture quality are good. No problem getting the Sony remote to control the Toshiba TV volume, etc, better than the Humax remote's volume buttons as they won't move volume higher than the existing TV setting, whereas the Sony remote works the actual TV circuitry (the manual gives codes for popular brands).

A slight downer is that such a basic machine with no hard drive has a fan, but it's very quiet.

Many thanks to you both cpemma and fireball xl5. It seems as though things are pretty much as I thought, or had gradually, and slowly, surmised, but it is invaluable to have the surmises confirmed and doubts removed; thanks again.


I agree with you cpemma, a fan is a bit of a downer - in fact my initial response to your statement was: 'oh no, not another bloody fan!' That is my biggest annoyance with the Hummy, and if it is a similar level of noise to that then I may well change my mind! On the other hand, I guess the recorder just won't be on unless it is actually in use, so perhaps it's not too much of a problem.

Shame about the i-Link, but, as I said earlier, basic record/playback performance is paramount. I think I may hang on for a few days, just to see if if you get any problems interacting with your Hummy cpemma, or if there are any performance issues reported from either of you.

Of course I am not demanding feedback here, I will just assume that 'no news is good news', as ever!

Thanks again to you both,
Regards,
Arthur.

PS. cpemma, I am a liitle confused by what you are saying about the volume control (you will have gathered by now that this is not an unusual state for me - I am a Bear of Little Brain). I thought that the Hummy remote would control some audio amplifiers within the PVR, which would then raise the signal level on the relevant Scart lines; it does raise the signal level on the audio out sockets (phonos), which I feed to a Denon stereo amp (I can't be bothered with surround sound). Is there some interaction between the TV and the PVR which I am unaware of? My, Daewoo, TV remote sometimes alters the Hummy volume setting, but I took this to be an unfortunate interaction between similar infra-red remotes - I am genuinely intrigued now!
Last edited by arthurb : 20-11-2007 at 00:55

That's correct. But to get full control of TV volume from the Humax remote you need to turn the TV volume up louder than "normal" first (using the TV remote). This can be annoying if you switch over to a different input (or switch the Humax off) and get a sudden loud blast of sound. I can see it's handy with an external sound system, but less handy with our plain TV sound.

The Sony just behaves like a very limited universal remote and operates a few TV features directly.

I have just purchase one of these dvd recorder and wonder if anyone has details on how to set it up to record off a V+ box. I have a Panasonic Viera so have HDMI but have yet to get the HDMI cable for the new recorder.

There is also a big discrepancy in the price of HDMI cables from £10 to £49. Can anyone recommend a source for a cheap but good quality cables.

Thanks

I got mine today, £9.99 delivered from Play. To HDMI 1.3 spec and seems decent construction (OFHC, gold-plated, silver-soldered), much better looking than the Woolworth's £9.99 one. Play's own brand so you're not paying for a name. Ebuyer do some cheaper Plexus ones (under £5) that have good customer feedback, but delivery takes them over £10 if you don't need anything else.

I wanted to use the HDMI output on my new Sony RDRGX350 (intended as (a) player and (b) Humax archiver) and hang on to the VCR for playback only. Have ended up with

Aerial ----> Humax ----> TV (I've kept aerial loop-throughs to the essential minimum, worrying about signal loss)

Humax TV (RGB) ----> TV Scart 1 (RGB)

Humax VCR (S-Video) ----> DVDR L1 (S-Video)

DVDR HDMI (12-bit YCbCr 4:2:2) ----> TV HDMI (Auto)

VCR TV (S-Video) ----> TV Scart 2 (S-Video)

Everything works (apart from the autoswitching of sources that Scart leads can do) and the Sony looks very good on pre-recorded DVD and DVD-RW recorded from the Humax HDD, but I'm open to any suggestions on alternative wiring.

just bought this recorder from priceless electronics for £75 including postage for a region 2 one
see link below

http://www.pricelesselectronics.co.u...roducts_id/539

a real bargain

I'm pleased to hear that the picture quality is good!

The SCARTS should auto-switch - are you using fully wired SCARTS?

Regarding the wiring, can I suggest an alternative? The HDMI is obviously fine, but in addition:

Humax TV out (RGB) ----> Sony DVDR Line 1 in (set to RGB input)

(You can set the L1 input on the Sony to RGB in the user settings, see page 25 of manual). This will give you optimum RGB quality when archiving from the Humax.

Sony DVDR L3 (SET TO RGB OUT) ----> TV SCART 1 (RGB)

You can now pass the Humax through the Sony at RGB quality. The system should auto switch to the Humax when playing back from it and viewed on the TV’s RGB SCART.

Also, could the VCR be passed through the Humax’s second SCART? I don’t have one but I’m pretty sure both SCARTS on the Humax can pass through as well as output. That way you’d have the VCR able to record to DVD if required, and you could watch the VCR on the same TV SCART channel as the other two devices.